80% Italians know value euro-lire (1 euro=1936,27 lire) 56% think they’ll be cheated by shop owners 57% unconvinced change to Euro is good for the economy Looks like an apprehensive "addio’" for the lira. Despite a pro-euro public awareness campaign headed by prehistoric frontman Pippo Baudo, most Italians aren’t expecting anything good to come from [...]
Job offer: Country managers, Rome • 2002 horoscopes • Ivrea: the Other Carnival • All about the Befana • Virtual Italian New Year • Italians in London: the movie Looking to work in Italy? We’re starting a free newsletter for English-speakers looking to work or change jobs in Italy. To sign up: by web, choose [...]
Nativity scenes have been a part of Italian Christmas celebrations since medieval times, but Orvieto’s reenactment is the first to put the Holy family underground. For 14 years running, speleologists have ventured 30 meters (circa 98 feet) down below to set up a nativity scene in the Pozzo della Cava, located in the medieval quarter [...]
9 million Italians visit fortunetellers, yearly 6 billion lire, estimated yearly profits 7,500 professional soothsayers 45, average age for those who seek advice 58% of clients are women* Scaring the bejesus out of superstitious Italians is big business. One of the country’s most infamous TV charlatans, screechy Wanna Marchi and her sidekick daughter Stefania recently [...]
The Eternal City’s famous feral cats are the latest thing to get “legitimized” by Italian bureaucracy. Once thought of as a nuisance, these abandoned animals were recently declared part of the city’s “bio-cultural patrimony.” Felines who make their homes in the Coliseum, Cestia pyramid and?Largo di Torre Argentina areas will get individual ‘licenses’ in February [...]
The leaning tower of Pisa just opened to visitors after over a decade of closed doors. According to the custodian we’ve badgered for months, currently the only way to visit the tower is to stand in line. Calculating 30 people can take the tour every 40 minutes, only 360 people per day can visit. Once [...]
Test your cultural knowledge: new quiz portal• Tricolore=ebusiness?•Juventus takes Stock • E-auguri E-auguri: Italian Christmas & New Year Greetings Here’s where to go for free e-cards in Italian: http://cartoline.iol.it Flash & animated cards. www.casentinonline.it Send a bit of Casentino, Tuscany… http://it.greetings.yahoo.com Scroll down for historic photos from the Alinari collection. http://cartoline.b24.it If you really want [...]
No more leaning over the counter and whispering what ails you: in early 2002, Italian pharmacies will put over the counter medications, well, over the counter. Currently, clients suffering mild discomforts like heartburn, hay fever or menstrual cramps are handed a remedy by the pharmacist and not given a choice of products. More than just [...]
After more than 30 years of deliberation, the Italian government approved a controversial project to prevent Venice from being devastated by floods. Named after Moses the biblical figure, the project consists of 79 moveable floodgates weighing 300 tons each which rise to part the sea surrounding Venice when high tides arrive. According to proponents, these [...]
Pannettone business cards• Monastery for Sale• Italian practice: send audio emails• Ponte Vecchio Golf Challenge Panettone Calling Card Make your presentations more memorable–by handing out these CDroms treated with "profume paint." Aside from the italianissimo panettone, aromas include: hay, lavender, prune, gas station and something called Himalaya Morning….Smelling is probably believing… www2.card21.it/htmlit/businessduft_d.php Monastery for Sale [...]
